Difference Between Vmodel and Waterfall Model

One of the oldest debates in software engineering is the debate between the waterfall versus the V model. This debate revolves around the best software model that developers can make use of. There are various phases that are involved in the software development process. The phases are similar in both waterfall and the V model, and the only thing that has so far been contentious is the approach to which these two models can be achieved by.

In the V model, there is a lot of activities which, when plotted together on a schematic diagram, form a V shape. Each phase that is said has a corresponding phase that is involved with testing. This model due to the equal number of testing and development is referred to as the verification and validation model. The verification side deals with the development end while validation deals with the testing phases. Among the activities that verification falls under include requirement analysis where information is gathered from the end user. This information is important in the development of the software documentation.

Next up is the system design, which aims to prepare functional design of software. The next thing that follows in line is the architectural design. This is also called the high level design that the interface relationship and the database tables and the dependencies of the tables. The final stage in the development process is coding where the entire project is broken down into small sections for coding which are then merged to create the entire system.

The validation side, on the other side, has four stages as in the verification stage. These phases begin with the unit testing, then integration testing, system testing and finally the user acceptance testing where the entire system is evaluated as a whole.

The waterfall model is the earliest software development procedure, with its origin coming from the manufacturing and construction industries. The basic concept of this process is that there is a sequential flow of processes which scale down one after the other, as seen in a waterfall. These phases of the waterfall model include Requirement Gathering and Analysis where the client’s requirements are gathered. This step leads to the design phase, where most of the software is created and then the implementation phase where the software code is written. The phase that follows is the testing and debugging, leading to the delivery and finally the maintenance phase.

The main difference noted between the two models is that the testing activities are performed after the development is over. The V model seems to look like a model that has a given start and end whereas the waterfall model is continuously iterative. The V model differs by being a simultaneous process. From the different software that has been produced in the market, software produced using the V process seem to be lower, as there are numerous testing activities as opposed to the waterfall model that has a single testing phase when the project is complete.
It can therefore be said that the use of the V model is preferred whenever there are continuous changes that need to be included. This is for a person or a development that has the client unsettled about the needs of their project, as they keep changing what it is they perceive to seem as ideal. People with fixed requirements that will not change in the development phase of the project should settle for the waterfall model. It is also important to note that changes in the V model are cheap to implement as testing is and development are done simultaneously. This is not the case with the waterfall model, which tends to be a costly affair, as any software defects cannot be noticed until it gets to the testing phase.

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Written by : david.
and updated on October 21, 2013

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